Several civil rights groups are organizing the protest, accusing NFL owners of blackballing the free agent quarterback after he triggered a season-long controversy in 2016 by kneeling during the national anthem.

Whitlock said progressive ideology is now creeping into the NFL and professional sports on an unprecedented level.

"This, to me, is starting to smell like a shakedown of the NFL owners," said Whitlock, adding that owners are being accused of being racist for not signing Kaepernick.

He said Kaepernick is simply not good enough, similar to Tim Tebow a few years ago, and that's why no NFL team wants him on their roster.

"This is the Tawana Brawley of football. This false narrative of the racist NFL owners keeping [Kaepernick] out," he said. Brawley gained fame in 1987 when, at age 15, she falsely accused a group of white men of raping her and leaving her in trash bag in New York.

The accusation was initially trumpeted by civil rights activists, like Rev. Al Sharpton, but it was later found to be fabricated.

In an interview Tuesday, Giants owner John Mara denied there was any organized effort to "blackball" Kaepernick, calling the claims "crazy."

He also pointed out the deluge of messages from fans who were deeply offended by Kaepernick's lack of patriotism and threatened to boycott if he was on the team.

Whitlock said the former 49er is not good enough to justify the "controversy" that a team will face for having him on the team.